Former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy feels India captain Harmanpreet Kaur needs to take a call on her captaincy in future as she is needed in the team as a batter than a leader. On the other hand, veteran Diana Edulji asked an “introspection” after the team’s defeat in the T20 World Cup final against Australia, while former coach Tushar Arothe didn’t like the decision to send Tania Bhatia at number three.
“I am very disappointed that such high calibre batters like Smriti, Jemimah, Harman did not click at all. It was a consistent failure of Harman, Smriti, Jemimah and Veda,” Shantha told PTI after India’s loss in their maiden final. “Shafali was the only one who made significant contributions while the others just chipped in which is not good enough to win a world title.”
However, questions are being raised on Harmanpreet Kaur as the captain as well as the batter. Under her leadership, India had lost in the semi-finals in the 2018 edition in the West Indies as well and her scores read 4, 15, 1, 8 and 2 in this edition.
“I am sure she will know when to give up captaincy and it is time for her review her captaincy. She is a mature person because she definitely is needed in the team much more as a batter than captain, especially in T20s. It is worth pondering over. With new selectors, new think tank coming in after the World Cup (this can be reviewed)”, said the former player.
Diana Edulji, who had criticised the team’s fitness earlier in the tri-series, said a proper introspection should be needed on this.
Read here: Brett Lee Has a Say On India And Australia Final Clash
“Let us not be too harsh on them. They had a good run. We broke the semifinals jinx. The loss has shown that T20 is not our forte, our forte is ODI cricket. It is time for good some introspection on the strengths and weaknesses and put it into practice because the 50 over World Cup is just around the corner (next year),” said Diana, who also captained India and so did Shantha.
“There are lots of positives despite the loss. Shafali was brilliant and spinners and lone pacer Shikha Pandey were brilliant. Alyssa Healy just took the game away from India in the final with her aggressive approach. The fact that India had to chase also did not work in their favour as they set totals in majority of the league games,” said Shantha.
Apart from the youngster, Shafali Verma, everyone ailed to step up i the tournament.
“I hopes she takes a lesson out of Harman as far as her fitness is concerned. She needs to improve her running between wickets and fielding and that will come with better fitness. She is getting away right now because of her big-hitting prowess. She will be a much bigger asset with improved fitness,” she added.
However, Diana Edulji spoke about the need for a mental coach with the team’s performance in the crucial knock-out games of ICC events. India lost the 50-over World Cup to England in 2017 as well.
“I want them to get over the loss quickly because they have a big World Cup coming. We need a medium pacer definitely. If Shikha breaks down, then there is no one and fielding and running between the wicket has to improve come what may. We also need a mental coach with the team (considering loss in knock out games),” added Diana.
On the other hand, Tushar Arothe, who was the head coach in the 2017 World Cup final, said, “You cannot send Tania Bhatia at number three as she isn’t a big hitter. If you wanted to take advantage of first six overs, send a hitter. It was just one bad day. Every team had one bad in the league stage except India. Everything went against us. The body language was down in the first six-seven overs,” added Arothe.
